Inside Mighty Machines (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - C5 Galaxy - full transcript
The C-5 Galaxy has been a crucial part of the U.S. Air Force for almost 50 years, serving in wars in Vietnam, the Gulf and Afghanistan, and delivering aid to the world's worst disaster zones. Now, maintenance personnel at Robins A...
Chad zdenek:
The mighty c-5 galaxy,
The biggest plane
the u.S. Air force ever built,
With a payload
that packs a punch...
...Designed to refuel midair...
Wow!
...And land
on the crudest runway.
It served in vietnam,
the gulf, and afghanistan,
But after decades of service,
It's time
for a $13 billion overhaul.
Man: Attention!
Chad: As they strip down
these giant machines...
Wow, it's really light.
...I'll uncover the five
engineering innovations
That allowed this plane
to endure for 50 years...
Man: Bang!
Chad: ...And the
state-of-the-art modifications
That will let it serve
for 50 more.
I'm chad zdenek.
I spent seven years building
rocket engines for nasa.
Now I'm taking things apart,
Breaking down giants
of engineering piece by piece
To discover what made them
legends of their time.
♪
♪
This is the robins
air force base in georgia.
It's here that the u.S.'s
flagship transporter
Is brought in for a complete
overhaul and service...
The mighty c-5 galaxy.
It's nearly 250 feet long,
stands 6 stories high,
And has a wingspan
of over 220 feet.
This massive piece
of engineering was designed
To carry american military power
To the heart of any crisis.
The u.S. Air force
built 131 of them,
And they've been
an essential piece
Of the military's armory
for half a century.
But keeping these aging
behemoths airborne isn't easy.
A plane this size endures
constant stresses and strains
That take their toll.
From its very first takeoff,
The c-5 has needed
46 hours of maintenance
For each hour of flight,
And every eight years,
they're ripped apart and rebuilt
Almost from scratch.
Ellen griffith:
83,000 man-hours more or less,
If we don't run
into any surprises,
And takes nine months
from wheels down to wheels up.
We basically take it apart.
We remove flight controls.
We remove parts of the tail
section, any damaged panels,
All the wiring,
all the avionics.
We'll put it back together.
We bring it out here to make
sure that it's mission capable.
We try to minimize
the amount of time it's here
Because that's time
it's not flying missions
That it needs to be flying
for the department of defense.
Chad: Now, this one's
eight years are up.
Over the next nine months,
I'm going to join
The crew of maintenance
personnel tearing it apart...
Man: Attention!
Chad: ...Before rebuilding it
for the 21st century
As a new c-5m super galaxy.
The dismantling
and recycling of these c-5s,
It gives me the chance
to find out
How this giant airplane
works from the inside,
To uncover the technology that's
made this a military legend.
World war ii made america
a global superpower.
Then the cold war flared up.
The military needed to move men
and machines thousands of miles
At a moment's notice.
Lyndon johnson: The american
nation cannot and will not
Permit the establishment
of another communist government.
Chad: Propeller-driven
transporters
Like the c-141 lockheed
starlifter launched in 1963.
But the army's weaponry
continued to grow in size.
Within just two years,
only a third of it
Could fit through
the c-141's cargo doors.
America's solution
was to think even bigger.
In 1965, lockheed
put forward a design
For the largest
airlifter plane ever built,
Capable of carrying an
unprecedented 140 tons of cargo.
The mighty c-5 was born.
Five ingenious pieces
of engineering
Made this monster a reality...
The revolutionary wing design
That lifted the monster plane
into the skies,
A colossal tail
that allows the c-5
To deliver its payload
without touching down,
The refueling system
that lets this plane
Fly anywhere nonstop,
The landing gear
that allowed the c-5
To land on rough terrain,
And the reason it was built...
Its massive drive-on/drive-off
cargo bay.
Each of them
needs to be overhauled,
But before any plane
can be worked on,
We need to drain its fuel
and strip its paint.
Getting under the skin of a c-5
Really gives you an appreciation
for the engineering.
The paint alone is 2,600 pounds,
but when you have that removed,
You can see
all the rivets and fasteners
That's actually used
to put this thing together.
When you add them up,
it's over 1.6 million.
To really appreciate
the size of a c-5,
You've got to get inside.
This cargo compartment
measures 19 feet wide,
13 1/2 feet tall,
and over 143 feet long,
Which is longer than the wright
brothers' first powered flight
At kitty hawk, north carolina.
This allows the c-5 to carry
more troops and supplies
Than any other airlifter
in service today.
The cargo hold
was the breakthrough
That won lockheed the contract,
But building it
was a serious challenge.
To begin with, access...
Giant cargo
needed a giant opening,
But the front of any plane
is blocked by the cockpit.
The solution?
A nose cone that swings up
to become a massive door.
It's called the visor.
I've seen this
open and close 20 times.
It is still an amazing
feat of engineering.
20 feet wide and weighing in
at over 6,500 pounds,
The visor swings up 65 degrees
to clear the cargo bay
And sit above the cockpit
during loading.
At the rear,
another colossal door,
23 feet long and 18 feet wide,
Creating an open-ended,
drive-on/drive-off cargo hold
The size of a bowling alley.
So, this is the back end
of the cargo bay,
And just to give you
an appreciation
For how big this is,
You could actually fit
58 cadillacs inside of there.
The c-5 was the only aircraft
that could deliver
Two 65-ton battle tanks
directly into a theater of war.
It could also transport
mobile bridges,
Armored personnel carriers,
troop trucks,
And just about anything
an armored brigade would need
On its deployment.
It was a game changer
For u.S. Military
long-distance operations.
The visor was
a creative solution
To one of the problems of
building a plane on this scale,
But it created another one...
How do you lift, rotate,
and then support a door
That weighs 6,500 pounds?
The answer...
Supersized hydraulics.
Before hydraulics,
planes were controlled
By wire cables,
pulleys, and levers
Operated by the pilots.
Hydraulic systems
use high pressure pumps
To make fluid do work,
And this allowed
aircraft engineers
To replace pulleys and cables
with hoses and pipework
That created
far more powerful controls,
And that allowed airplanes
to become much bigger...
...But at a cost.
The early petroleum fluids
That ran through the hydraulic
systems were highly flammable,
A death sentence
for warplanes under attack.
American airmen trapped on board
suffered the consequences.
Film narrator: Ignition of the
fuel-air mixture occurs at once.
The fuel being spilled
adjacent to the nacelle
Is then ignited
from this flash fire.
Chad: With pressure
to increase size and safety,
The engineers needed
to find an alternative.
Early hydraulic fluid
was highly flammable
And caused some
pretty nasty injuries
For crews that were shot down
in the Korean war.
But there was also
another problem.
At 30,000 feet with temperatures
down to minus 60 degrees,
The fluid started to freeze,
As you can see
with this engine oil
I just took out
of a commercial freezer.
It turned to
this toffee-like consistency,
And when it's like that,
It won't flow
through a high pressure pump.
Aircraft engineers
needed a solution,
And they found it being used
for oil exploration in alaska.
It's called
acetal aromatic fluid,
And this is a sample of it.
This has been in the freezer
just as long,
And you can see
it's still perfectly fluid,
And it's not flammable.
Engineers could now use
this hydraulic fluid
With high pressure pumps
and 260 actuators
To supersize a cargo plane
and build a c-5.
It was the game changer
they needed
To create a safer
high-flying plane,
And these are the key
to the system.
This is an actuator.
It's small
but incredibly powerful.
This one's rated for 12 tons,
Which means it could lift
about ten average-sized cars.
Now, the way it's made
is there's a piston rod
That goes inside of a cylinder.
The cylinder is filled
with hydraulic fluid.
Now, when I turn on a pump,
It's gonna pressurize that
hydraulic fluid in this hose
And add it to the side.
This pushes the piston forward
to move heavy components.
Reversing the pump switches
pressure to the other side,
And the piston retracts.
The c-5 has many actuators,
eight times more than the 747.
They work to operate
the huge cargo doors,
Wing flaps, and landing gears.
They do it
thousands of times a year,
So the wear and tear
on them is enormous,
And they have to be continually
checked and repaired.
Man: I've got a ramp arm light.
Chad, could you go check
that upper hinge for me
And see if that actuator
hinge retracted back there?
Chad: This actuating cylinder
controls the hydraulic system
That moves the nose cone.
Man: Doors coming closed.
Clear.
Chad: It's showing
signs of wear, and if it fails,
Over 6,500 pounds of nose cone
Could come crashing back down
onto the cockpit.
We have to replace the actuators
On both the front
and rear cargo doors.
The trouble is
they aren't made anymore.
Custom-building one from scratch
would cost up to $60,000,
But there is a place
Where the military
can pick them up a lot cheaper.
♪
This is the u.S.
Air force maintenance
And regeneration facility
in arizona.
Thousands of surplus aircraft
Are stored out here
in the desert,
Ready to be cannibalized
for parts
To keep the rest
of the fleet in the air.
Jennifer barnard:
You won't find a place
That has more
military aircraft stored.
2,600 acres, nearly 4,000
airplanes are stored here,
$35 billion worth of inventory.
Most of our aircraft
are reclaimed for parts
To keep those aircraft flying.
Chad: It's the final resting
place of legendary f-4 phantoms,
F-16 fighter falcons,
and f-111 bombers,
And the reason I'm here...
The original c-5s,
Some of the very first
off the production line in 1970.
These older models
were so well maintained
That their components
are still in working order,
Perfectly preserved
in the dry desert air.
Mechanics dan moran
and eric mollison
Are helping me find
a pristine actuator
For the c-5 we're upgrading.
Eric: Hold this in place
So that it doesn't pull
the whole assembly over.
Chad: Got it.
Eric: While I pop this out.
Chad: Okay, almost there,
two threads left.
There it goes.
[drilling]
Eric: And that's the top part.
We'll be pulling parts
off of these for decades.
Chad: Wow!
Eric: You know, we make money
for the air force out here.
Nothing out here goes to waste.
Chad: Yeah.
Because parts like these
aren't manufactured anymore,
Without this facility,
the military couldn't maintain
Its older aircraft,
like our c-5.
Eric: There we go.
There she is.
Chad: Good, good deal.
60,000 bucks
just like that, huh?
Eric: Yep.
This is how we drain them,
very scientific.
So, it's got quite
a bit of fluid in it.
And clean it up and ship it out.
Chad: Cool.
Man: This is ken.
Chad: Hey, ken.
With the hydraulic fluid
drained,
My actuator is cleaned,
tagged, and released to me
To take back to our c-5.
So, just take this,
and we're set?
Gina: All set.
Chad: Okay.
Thanks, gina, appreciate it.
Gina: You're very welcome.
Chad: All right, bye.
Gina: Bye.
♪
Chad: Back in georgia,
I get to make myself useful
by playing delivery boy.
All right,
One actuator delivered
and ready to install.
♪
This one is destined
for the cargo door.
Man: All right, chad. Go ahead
and tighten up the, the bolts.
The actuator is lined up.
♪
Chad: It's good. All right.
Man: Looks good, chad.
Chad: Okay. Job done,
actuator installed.
It took three days
plus a trip to arizona,
But the nose cone
and cargo bay doors
Are now fully operational.
Keeping 50-year-old planes
airborne is a lot of work.
The first c-5s rolled off
the production line in 1969.
By then,
the world's biggest aircraft
Was already becoming
its most expensive.
Rushing the untested plane
to its first war zone
More than doubled the cost.
Its first combat mission
was in 1972,
Where the u.S. Hoped
It would halt
the communist push in vietnam.
The c-5 could unload tanks
in just 27 minutes,
Keeping vulnerable time
on the ground to a minimum.
In 1973, as the war
in vietnam eased,
Syria and egypt attacked
america's ally, israel.
Once again, the u.S. Responded
by sending in the c-5s.
The fleet flew 145 missions
in just two weeks,
Loaded with emergency supplies
and military equipment.
By 1975, c-5s had played
a critical part
In the evacuation
of refugees from saigon,
As the vietnam war
finally ended.
Film narrator:
Under difficult conditions,
This proven versatile giant
can be counted on to perform.
Chad: In just five years,
the c-5 had proved
Its huge cargo capacity
was indispensable.
Engineering that capacity
was itself a minor miracle.
But it wasn't enough
just to build the ark;
Now it had to fly.
I want to find out
just how this thing
Actually made it into the air
and stayed there.
The secret to the c-5's strength
is hidden here,
Behind the protective covers
That line
the cargo hold's walls.
Man: Do all of them, one by one,
To check that
all of them are good.
We'll press on from there.
Chad: Cool.
We're inspecting
the small screws or fasteners
That hold the plane's
outer walls together.
There's millions of them.
♪
Man: You'll see the corrosion
on the pin.
Chad: Believe it or not,
these tiny holes are the reason
Why the cargo hold
can support such huge weight.
So, we take the nuts off
from this side
And then pop it through
with the rivet gun
And then replace them?
Man: Yes.
Chad: All right, well,
I guess we better get started.
The number of fasteners
in an aircraft
Relates directly
to its load-bearing capability,
And the c-5 has twice as many
as other large aircraft.
This row right here?
The load on each fastener
takes its toll,
And eventually
it will weaken and snap.
To prevent a devastating
midair failure,
Each one has to be
in perfect working order,
Which is where we come in.
There's over 1.6 million
fasteners on this c-5,
And we inspect
as many as possible.
In this case, we've got 40,000
we need to replace.
Only once
they've all been replaced
Will the c-5 be fit for duty.
What's this? Is this line
for all these guys?
Man: Yeah, go ahead.
Chad: We're six weeks
into the complete strip-down
Of this massive galaxy c-5
As it gets retrofitted
and transformed
Into a c-5m super galaxy.
As part of this
$13 billion upgrade,
The old c-5s have been given
four new f138 turbofan engines
With 20 percent
increased thrust,
Allowing for shorter,
heavier takeoffs.
Each engine weighs in
at five tons.
♪
As the c-5 got heavier,
It became harder to control
the massive stresses of flight.
The cockpit has been overhauled,
The old dials
and levers replaced
With a computer-controlled
avionics system.
The new software is tested
on the simulator
To make sure its bug-free when
it's loaded into the cockpit.
John thornbury: We have
our engines in place
And on and ready.
We have our gear down.
At 140 knots, I want you
to pull the stick back,
And we'll gently lift off.
Chad: Okay.
John: And not too violent.
Try not to use too much at once
to get it up.
All right.
[click]
All right, you heard that click.
I want you to throw
the landing gear.
Chad: This one?
John: Yep.
Robert herrmann:
This facility allows us
To test software changes
in a contained environment
Where we don't tie up
operational aircraft,
So it's extremely
beneficial there.
We're saving $3, $4, $5 million
Each time we go through
a software release.
Chad: This is the closest
I'll get to flying one of these,
So let's see how she handles.
Cruise altitude 20,000.
Uh-oh, hold on. Something moved.
I'm off target here.
John: Now it's climbing fast.
Chad: Whoa!
Wow!
Uh-oh, we're in the red zone.
John: Oh, yeah. We're going
real slow, and we're dropping.
Chad: Oh, man.
John: Now, we've
got to pick up speed.
Chad: Jeez.
[laughs]
Wow, look at that.
John: And there's England.
Chad: Oh, yeah.
As I level up,
The control yoke vibrates
to simulate a stall.
It really does
make it realistic.
John: Oh, yeah.
Chad: Especially when
this thing starts vibrating
And yelling at you and beeping.
My career as a c-5 pilot
is gonna be short-lived.
Even in the simulator,
it gets stressful.
John: Oh, yeah!
Chad: But it shows
the huge strain
This heavy aircraft
is under during flight.
Wow!
John: So find it,
and there you go.
Chad: Oh, man.
As attention turns
to the superstructure,
I want to reveal
the next innovation
That gets this monster plane
airborne and keeps it there.
Next up for inspection,
the c-5's mighty wings.
They span an incredible
222 feet and 8 inches
And weigh over 40,000 pounds!
This is a boeing 747.
Now look at the wings.
They're mounted low on
the fuselage and angled upwards.
This is typical
of any passenger aircraft.
Now compare that
to a c-5 cargo plane.
Here, the wings are mounted
high on the air frame.
That means the fuselage can be
designed lower to the ground.
This translates
to easier loading,
Which is crucial for the c-5.
Now look at the pitch
of the wings.
They're angled downwards,
And that design was key
to allow the wings
To take the huge weight
of a loaded cargo plane.
The downward pitch of the wings
Was the stroke of genius
That got the c-5 off the ground,
Because it allowed them to flex.
Man: This aircraft is capable
Of a tremendous amount
of airlift,
So when they actually
are in flight,
The wings lift up
to almost level
So that we can lift
so much weight.
Chad: Got you.
So that's deflection.
It's not mechanically moving.
It's just deflecting up.
Man: Not mechanical at all.
It is just deflection.
Chad: Deflection is the
natural movement of the wings
As they lift upwards
during flight.
All aircraft do this, but
the design of the c-5's wings
Enables it to flex
by an incredible 12 feet.
When the plane lands,
they droop down again.
Implementing this experimental
design pushed costs
From $40 to $60 million
per aircraft.
I can see why c-5 engineers
chose this design.
Rigid wings
would have simply snapped
Under the weight of the plane.
Instead, these were designed to
bend and flex without cracking.
It gives the plane its really
distinctive look, which I love.
And I got to say,
it was a really clever design.
The problem is
it didn't quite work.
In 1974, just four years after
they rolled out of the factory,
Huge cracks appeared
on some of the c-5's wings.
America's $60 million plane
was a flying death trap.
The fleet's days
looked numbered.
When lockheed estimated
another half billion dollars
To fix the cracked wings,
Many politicians wanted
to scrap the whole c-5 program.
In the end, their hand
was forced by the ussr.
Ronald reagan: Tonight
I want to explain to you
What this defense debate
is all about
And why I'm convinced
that the budget
Now before the congress
is necessary.
Chad: Believe it or not,
this isn't a c-5.
It's a russian airlifter,
and when it launched in 1982,
It was both bigger
and better than the c-5.
Nicknamed the condor,
The antonov 124 had the same
engineering innovations...
The raised nose,
the high-mounted wings...
But its engines
had 20 percent more thrust
Mounted on a larger wingspan,
and the condor could carry
44,000 pounds more
than the c-5 galaxy.
American superiority,
not to mention pride,
Was at stake.
Film narrator: To avoid
the horror of nuclear war,
The soviet union
or any potential adversary
Must believe
that the united states
Has the ability to retaliate
If they should launch
a first attack
On us or our allies.
Chad: President reagan
believed the c-5
Was the only answer
to the growing russian threat.
As part of a new defense budget,
He requested
$1.4 billion from congress
To upgrade the c-5 fleet.
Reagan got his money,
And the c-5 was saved
from history's scrap heap.
The existing fleet of
76 aircraft would get new wings,
And 50 brand-new planes
were ordered.
These upgraded planes
were renamed c-5bs.
Finally, almost 20 years
after the c-5 was launched,
The air force had a plane
it could trust,
But it had cost ten times
the original budget.
And constant maintenance
still remains essential.
William ball: We're doing
a very thorough, in-depth look
Of the inside and outside
of the wings,
And we're looking
for structural defects
Such as we found
back in the a-model wings.
We're searching inside and out
for any kind of abnormalities
Or any kind
of other structural issues
That could cause problems
in the future
So that we can get ahead
of that power curve now.
Chad: The wings are made up of
hundreds of reinforced panels.
Each one must be checked,
replaced if faulty,
And manually glued
back into place.
How long does this stuff
take to dry?
William: Typically half an hour.
Chad: So we got to get it on
pretty quick then, huh?
The panels are made of
the strongest aluminum alloys.
Wow, it's really light!
William: So, it's actually
two pieces of sheet metal
That are bonded
to a honeycomb core,
So it gives it strength
and rigidity,
But it's very light.
Chad: This is just the start
of a six-week process
To check and replace all of
the panels on 220 foot of wing.
When they're done, this plane
will be ready to deploy
To any hostile hotspot
in the world.
The c-5's cargo hold
let it carry huge loads.
Its vast wings
gave enormous lift.
The challenge is
once off the ground,
How can it stay airborne
For the thousands
of miles needed
To reach anywhere on the planet?
The first clue to this
next incredible innovation
Is right above the cockpit.
Man: It's literally
just right in here.
Right there.
Chad: Oh, yeah,
that's amazing!
It's a fuel inlet,
known as the receptacle.
This may not look like much,
But it allows a c-5 to fly
further than any other plane
By letting it refuel midair
from a second aircraft.
Midair refueling was first
attempted in the 1920s,
And while the principle
is still the same,
It's become
much more sophisticated.
A telescopic tube called a boom
Extends from the rear
of a tanker aircraft.
It's fitted with air foils,
which allows an operator
To control it
like a model airplane
And dock it
with the fuel inlet on the c-5,
Where it's held in place
with a locking mechanism.
Hundreds of pounds of fuel
Are then transferred
every second
From the tanker
and onto the c-5,
Where it's stored
inside its enormous wings.
Can you take me down below
to see it from the inside?
Man: Sure can. Let's do it.
All right, chad,
this is where the,
This is the interior side
Of where the boom actually
connects to the aircraft.
This is basically
the fuel manifold,
And once it connects up,
It's going to start
running down this fuel pipe
And then out to the wings.
Chad: So, this is
the main fuel line
That comes down
from the receptacle
That we saw inside the cockpit,
And this fills up 12 integral
tanks that are within the wings,
And it holds
over 50,000 gallons of fuel.
The refueling receptacle
is key to the whole process.
It locks onto the tanker's boom
To hold
the two aircraft together.
Without it, they can't refuel.
To check it, we're using
a special test unit
That mimics the action
of the refueling boom.
Man: It's going to kick back
a little bit.
Chad: So, we're going
to try and test
The contacts in the inside
To make sure
that we've got that connection,
And the pilot inside
is going to switch it on
So that when it engages,
we're ready to fuel it up.
Contacts ready.
Okay, here it goes.
It should lock on contact.
[thud]
Man: There you go! First try!
Chad: Oh! One and done, baby!
Man: All right,
then switch it to contact.
You're set.
Chad: All right, I'll see
if it was beginner's luck.
[thud]
Man: Bang!
Chad: Whoa!
Man: I know, you got it now!
Chad: So you can see this
actually, this metal trapdoor,
If you will,
goes down so that boom lift,
As it's dropping that nozzle
to come down here to refuel.
This receptacle is
in full operational order.
Another small piece of the c-5
refurb jigsaw makes the grade.
Carrying less fuel
means the c-5 can take off
Carrying more cargo,
And then once airborne, top up.
With full tanks, the c-5
can fly over 5,000 miles,
And with a midair refuel,
It can reach anywhere
on the planet.
It's a classic piece
of engineering,
Simple in concept,
But executing it
midair at 300 miles an hour
Is a very different story.
Few people outside
the crews involved
Actually get to experience
a midair refueling maneuver,
So for me
to witness one firsthand
Is truly a once-in-a-lifetime
experience.
♪
I'm boarding a refueling tanker,
And we have a rendezvous
with a c-5 over the atlantic.
Hey.
Man: Welcome aboard.
Chad: Thank you.
Captain milan and his crew
will be at 26,000 feet.
♪
I'm keeping my eyes peeled
for a 450-ton airlifter.
And there it is, a mile away,
A giant in the sky,
On a training mission
over the sea
But running on empty.
The c-5 crew turns off autopilot
and close the gap.
This is the most dangerous part
of the operation.
As the c-5 approaches,
the crew drops the boom.
It's now just 20 feet behind us.
Wow!
Oh, my gosh!
The c-5 pilot
must hold this position
Or risk being caught in the huge
jet wash from our plane.
Using the boom's
remote-controlled air fins,
The team guide it towards
the c-5's fuel receptacle.
Wow!
[radio chatter]
That is an unbelievable view.
The receptor locks firm.
We're connected.
Wow!
I couldn't even do this
Between two cars
driving ten miles an hour
And try to hand a coke
to somebody out the window,
Let alone two massive planes
26,000 feet up
Going 300 miles an hour.
35,000 pounds of fuel
pumping into the c-5,
Meaning our plane gets lighter
and the c-5 gets heavier.
Both pilots have to compensate
for this weight change,
Or the two planes
will be pulled apart.
Man: So, they're constantly
gaining that weight,
So they're constantly needing
to just, you know,
Push up the power
just a little bit
To try to keep that distance
that they have.
Chad: Yeah.
If that wasn't hard enough,
Both planes have to perform
a synchronized turn
To enter a holding pattern
while the fuel transfers.
Man: All right, so it gets
a little more challenging
For the pilot here in the turn.
Chad: So, we're doing
a turn right now?
Man: Yeah, we're
in a right-hand turn.
Chad: A midair refueling turn.
Now you guys
are just showing off.
Man: Yeah, exactly.
Chad:
The two planes pull apart,
And the c-5 is good to go
for another 5,000 miles.
But getting to the destination
is only half the story.
The c-5 has to deliver
its payload often in a war zone.
How do you deliver cargo
in a combat zone?
A c-5 coming in for a landing
is one very big target.
The answer was
not to land at all,
Which is why the c-5's
huge rear doors
Can be opened in flight.
Imagine you're driving your car
At 60 miles an hour
down the freeway
And you open up your rear trunk.
You'd be fighting
to keep control.
Now imagine that you're flying
an almost 300-ton aircraft
At nearly 200 miles an hour
And you open up
a giant rear cargo door.
It messes up the aerodynamics
and creates violent turbulence,
Destabilizing
the tail of the plane.
That could shake
the aircraft to pieces,
But the c-5 designers
had an ingenious solution.
On most aircraft,
the tailplane looks like this,
With low horizontal fins.
The c-5 does things differently.
It has its rear fins
mounted right at the top
In an arrangement
called a t-tail.
By placing the horizontal
stabilizers up high like this,
They were kept
out of the air turbulence
That was caused by opening
the cargo doors while in flight,
And that meant that the c-5
could deliver its payload
Without ever having
to touch down.
In 1973, the c-5 broke records
with the heaviest airdrop ever...
A deactivated
minuteman nuclear missile
Weighing in at 73,000 pounds.
It was so heavy,
The plane's tail rose by 30 feet
as the bomb fell.
This test proved that
the c-5 could be relied upon
As a heavy-duty nuclear bomber.
Film narrator:
At an altitude of 20,000 feet
And a speed of 172 knots,
This flight
set a new world's record
For a single-load airdrop
by nearly 5,000 pounds.
Chad: The drop was only possible
because of this 68-foot t-tail.
It's as big as a fighter jet.
It gives the plane enormous lift
And increased stability
during flight.
But like the wings, the t-tail
is subject to massive strains,
And by 2009,
after 40 years of service,
Cracks started to appear.
I'm joining the team
Charged with overhauling
the tail on our c-5.
Where were they finding
the, the stress cracks?
Man: The stress cracks
were actually found
In these three holes,
the very bottom three holes
At the bottom of that.
Chad: Wow.
This is an area of high stress,
and even with multiple rivets,
The airframe was slowly
being pulled apart.
Left untreated, it could cause
catastrophic failure.
♪
Okay, I'm climbing up into
the back section of the plane
Known as the hayloft,
And this is right
where the vertical part
Of the tail connects to,
And there's
a critical component here
Known as the batman fitting,
And it has to be replaced
on all the c-5s
Because of fatigue cracks.
The batman fitting reinforces
The vulnerable bottom section
of the tail
Where it connects
to the fuselage,
Preventing it from breaking off.
Some say it looks a bit
like batman's mask,
Hence the nickname.
I'm ready to get my hands dirty.
Man: All right, let's go to it.
Chad: The c-5
is in constant battle
With its own size and power.
To keep the giants in service,
These new joints
have now been remade
From stronger and thicker
aluminum alloy.
Man: They beefed up
the whole section in here.
All this is beefed up in here.
Chad: Every c-5 has a slightly
different interior layout,
So these batman joints
are custom-fitted.
Engineers must map out
every single rivet hole.
It's like marking out where
to put a shelf up at home,
Only with 3,000 holes.
So, we're using these temporary
connectors known as clecos,
And we put them through
the existing hole pattern
On the backside
so that when we drill through,
We're gonna know
exactly how to drill
Through the batman fitting,
And it's going to be
guaranteed to fit.
[drill whirring]
Wow, my first hole
in a batman fitting.
[drill whirring]
4 down, 2,996 to go.
[drill whirring]
Once the new batman fittings
have been riveted inside,
The rivet holes outside
must be reinforced
To protect them
from the elements.
Man: All right, here we go.
This is, this is where we work.
Chad: Okay.
So this whole yellow piece
is a new piece?
Man: It is, yes, sir.
Chad: And it's stronger?
Man: It is stronger.
It's steel.
It just adds, it just beefs up
the outside of the aircraft.
Chad: Got it.
[drill whirring]
Cool.
Man: Great job. You're hired.
Chad: So, it may seem
like a small part,
But this is absolutely critical
Because the most stress and
highest loads occur right here,
So we got to make sure
we get it right.
It's a redesign and a rebuild,
Yet another cost,
But essential to keep
the c-5 safe in the skies
For thousands
of flights to come.
♪
Despite its problems,
The c-5's ability to deploy
anywhere in the world
Meant they quickly
became invaluable
To the u.S. Military.
In 1990, they faced
their greatest challenge
In 30 years of service...
Operation desert storm,
The biggest military airlift
in history.
C-5s worked 26-hour shifts
around the clock
To deliver half a million
american troops, 1,300 tanks,
And 15 field hospitals
to saudi arabia.
The military airlift command
Moved the equivalent
of oklahoma city...
All of its people, vehicles,
even household goods,
Halfway around the world.
It took six months,
And often it meant
landing in places
Where a smooth runway
wasn't an option.
From the beginning, the c-5's
innovative landing gear
Could land in deserts,
dirt strips, or even fields.
Six months
into this c-5 overhaul,
And I finally get my chance
to uncover how it works.
Finding a way to land
a fully loaded c-5 on rough dirt
Presented
a real engineering challenge.
How do you absorb the impact
of a 300-ton aircraft
Touching down on a rutted field
without damaging the cargo
Or the plane or the crew?
Lockheed was very proud
of the solution.
Film narrator: Can a 380-ton
plane have a light footprint?
American ingenuity said,
"sure, it can"
And produced a 28-wheel gear
With tires that can
be deflated in flight
For softer landings
on bare soil.
♪
Chad: The c-5 galaxy has a very
unique landing gear system.
It's this incredible feat
of engineering
That allows this monster
aircraft to take off and land
Just about anywhere
in the world.
That's right. 28 wheels,
more than any other aircraft.
They're spread across
five clusters called trucks,
One under each corner
and one under the nose.
Giant shock struts absorb
the impact of landing
And braking on rough ground.
The landing gear can pivot
to allow tight turning circles
On small airstrips.
Powerful hydraulics
adjust each landing gear
To level the plane.
After takeoff, they rotate
90 degrees and store flat
Without taking up any space
inside the cargo bay.
It's an incredibly
complicated system
Dependent on hundreds of small
moving parts working in unison.
Once again, the size
and complexity of the c-5
Became its achilles' heel.
The wings had been upgraded,
the tail strengthened,
Allowing the cargo limits
to be increased,
But the all-important wheel
bearings had not been upgraded,
And eventually
they, too, began to fail.
[whirring]
The landing gears on some c-5s
started to jam.
Crews had to force
the wheels down manually
To prevent a crash landing.
It all came down
to aircraft engineer harry jones
To find out why.
He used a listening device
to locate the problem
Amongst the hundreds
of tiny parts.
Harry jones: We had a failure,
A bearing failure ultimately,
But we didn't know
what it was initially,
So we developed
a procedure to listen.
We had a mechanical stethoscope
That we listened
to the gearboxes with.
Chad: So, what were
you listening for
When you actually
had the gear going?
Harry: When you would listen
to one that was bad,
You could hear grinding
and strange sounds
Coming from within the case.
You had to almost hear it
to define it.
Chad: So, was it both of them
that were going bad?
Harry solved the problem
And became
a c-5 aviation legend.
Is that how you became known
as the aircraft whisperer?
Harry: I was dubbed that
by our wing commander.
Chad: But landing
on rough ground
Wasn't the c-5's only trick.
Once it touches down,
The c-5 is the only plane
in the world that can limbo.
It's the final two weeks
Of our c-5 galaxy's
overhaul and upgrade.
When completed, this will be
a totally new class of airplane.
With its new hydraulics,
new wing panels,
A re-engineered tail,
and even a new paint job,
The final task is
to check the shock absorbers
That support
each massive touchdown.
As well as softening
the impact of landing,
It's the shock struts
that allow the c-5
To do something
no other plane can do...
Kneel down to just
four inches off the ground,
Making it easier and faster
To load cargo
in and out of the hold.
This was a game changer
for a military transporter
And the design feature
that won lockheed the contract.
But like everything else
on the c-5,
These shock absorbers
need a lot of maintenance.
Each one must be disassembled
as part of the overhaul.
♪
Hi, mike. Ready?
Mike: All right, chad.
When you're ready,
We're going to
bring the gear up.
I'm going to tell you
when to stop.
I got to check the rollers
and the track, all right?
Chad: So, handle closed,
90 degrees.
Click up.
Open slow.
As the plane brakes,
the inner piston moves up
And the shock struts absorb up
to a million pounds of pressure.
Special rings
move with the pistons
To keep the hydraulic fluid
sealed inside.
If these get damaged,
the fluid leaks out.
Without it,
the landing gear will fail
And the plane
will have a hard landing.
We're going to get dirty
today, aren't we?
David mera:
We're going to try to.
It's not fun unless you don't.
Chad: Yeah, okay.
Man, I feel like a dentist now
with these type of tools.
David checks the inner rings
That seal hydraulic fluid
within the cylinder.
David: You have to
kind of run your hand over it,
Make sure
there's no deformities,
Things like that.
Get kind of
eyeball height with it.
Look down it.
Make sure you don't have
anything that's pitted,
Low spots.
A lot of things happen when it
gets used out in the field.
Chad: Oh, man,
this is no joke.
My turn to check these seals for
even the tiniest imperfections.
Is that, uh, anything?
David: Yeah.
Chad: So, like nicks like this?
David: That is heavily worn
and out of limits.
Chad: The inner rings
are damaged and need replacing
Before our c-5
will be cleared to fly.
So, a part like that,
You got to get a new part then
at that point?
David: Yes.
♪
Chad: We retrofitted
a piston assembly.
David: Yeah,
it's quite a process.
Chad: Man!
Before it's sent
on its first mission,
It must pass a series
of final checks...
The cargo bay doors, the wings,
The reinforced tail,
and the wheels.
It passes.
Our c-5 is ready
to take to the skies.
After 9 months,
80,000 man-hours,
And $20 million,
This c-5b can be relaunched
And renamed
as a c-5m super galaxy.
Nick.
Nick: Hey, how's it going?
Chad: Good. Chris,
thanks for having me on board.
Nick: So, this is
our new flight deck.
We've got beautiful avionics
up here for our m model.
As you can see,
it's very modern.
It's a very modern airplane.
Now, you know this airplane
was built in 1969,
That we're flying today,
but we've modernized it greatly.
Chad: Three mobile generators
need to be transported
To an army base 200 miles north.
This is a big machine.
Man: Yes, it is.
Chad: Each one weighs 20 tons.
The c-5 swallows them all
with ease.
So, this is gross
vehicle weight... 38,690 pounds?
Man: Yep, 38,690 pounds.
Chad: Wow.
Man: That's huge.
Chad: Geez.
Man: It's probably one of the
largest pieces of rolling stock
We've dealt with in a while.
Chad: So, with 120,000 pounds
Of oversized rolling stock
ready to go,
You can see why the c-5s
Are critical
to the u.S. Air force.
As impressive as that is,
It's still only a third of
the weight this c-5 can carry.
With its huge range
and ability to refuel midair,
This plane can stay
airborne indefinitely.
The only limit
is fatigue for the crew,
So the c-5 is equipped
with sleeping quarters
To allow the them
to work in shifts.
Nick: It's very comfortable.
Chad: Air force first class.
Nick: Yeah, exactly.
Chad: I've helped
transform this c-5...
Stripping it back,
taking it apart,
And rebuilding it.
Now it's time for me
to say goodbye
And let this plane
take to the skies.
The c-5's impressive scale is
matched only by its price tag...
$260 million to build it
and millions more
In its many repairs
and upgrades.
But through all that, it's been
in almost constant use,
Defying gravity and economics
for 50 years
And ready for another
five decades of service,
A testament to the tenacity
of engineering genius
And the value of sheer size.
♪
The mighty c-5 galaxy,
The biggest plane
the u.S. Air force ever built,
With a payload
that packs a punch...
...Designed to refuel midair...
Wow!
...And land
on the crudest runway.
It served in vietnam,
the gulf, and afghanistan,
But after decades of service,
It's time
for a $13 billion overhaul.
Man: Attention!
Chad: As they strip down
these giant machines...
Wow, it's really light.
...I'll uncover the five
engineering innovations
That allowed this plane
to endure for 50 years...
Man: Bang!
Chad: ...And the
state-of-the-art modifications
That will let it serve
for 50 more.
I'm chad zdenek.
I spent seven years building
rocket engines for nasa.
Now I'm taking things apart,
Breaking down giants
of engineering piece by piece
To discover what made them
legends of their time.
♪
♪
This is the robins
air force base in georgia.
It's here that the u.S.'s
flagship transporter
Is brought in for a complete
overhaul and service...
The mighty c-5 galaxy.
It's nearly 250 feet long,
stands 6 stories high,
And has a wingspan
of over 220 feet.
This massive piece
of engineering was designed
To carry american military power
To the heart of any crisis.
The u.S. Air force
built 131 of them,
And they've been
an essential piece
Of the military's armory
for half a century.
But keeping these aging
behemoths airborne isn't easy.
A plane this size endures
constant stresses and strains
That take their toll.
From its very first takeoff,
The c-5 has needed
46 hours of maintenance
For each hour of flight,
And every eight years,
they're ripped apart and rebuilt
Almost from scratch.
Ellen griffith:
83,000 man-hours more or less,
If we don't run
into any surprises,
And takes nine months
from wheels down to wheels up.
We basically take it apart.
We remove flight controls.
We remove parts of the tail
section, any damaged panels,
All the wiring,
all the avionics.
We'll put it back together.
We bring it out here to make
sure that it's mission capable.
We try to minimize
the amount of time it's here
Because that's time
it's not flying missions
That it needs to be flying
for the department of defense.
Chad: Now, this one's
eight years are up.
Over the next nine months,
I'm going to join
The crew of maintenance
personnel tearing it apart...
Man: Attention!
Chad: ...Before rebuilding it
for the 21st century
As a new c-5m super galaxy.
The dismantling
and recycling of these c-5s,
It gives me the chance
to find out
How this giant airplane
works from the inside,
To uncover the technology that's
made this a military legend.
World war ii made america
a global superpower.
Then the cold war flared up.
The military needed to move men
and machines thousands of miles
At a moment's notice.
Lyndon johnson: The american
nation cannot and will not
Permit the establishment
of another communist government.
Chad: Propeller-driven
transporters
Like the c-141 lockheed
starlifter launched in 1963.
But the army's weaponry
continued to grow in size.
Within just two years,
only a third of it
Could fit through
the c-141's cargo doors.
America's solution
was to think even bigger.
In 1965, lockheed
put forward a design
For the largest
airlifter plane ever built,
Capable of carrying an
unprecedented 140 tons of cargo.
The mighty c-5 was born.
Five ingenious pieces
of engineering
Made this monster a reality...
The revolutionary wing design
That lifted the monster plane
into the skies,
A colossal tail
that allows the c-5
To deliver its payload
without touching down,
The refueling system
that lets this plane
Fly anywhere nonstop,
The landing gear
that allowed the c-5
To land on rough terrain,
And the reason it was built...
Its massive drive-on/drive-off
cargo bay.
Each of them
needs to be overhauled,
But before any plane
can be worked on,
We need to drain its fuel
and strip its paint.
Getting under the skin of a c-5
Really gives you an appreciation
for the engineering.
The paint alone is 2,600 pounds,
but when you have that removed,
You can see
all the rivets and fasteners
That's actually used
to put this thing together.
When you add them up,
it's over 1.6 million.
To really appreciate
the size of a c-5,
You've got to get inside.
This cargo compartment
measures 19 feet wide,
13 1/2 feet tall,
and over 143 feet long,
Which is longer than the wright
brothers' first powered flight
At kitty hawk, north carolina.
This allows the c-5 to carry
more troops and supplies
Than any other airlifter
in service today.
The cargo hold
was the breakthrough
That won lockheed the contract,
But building it
was a serious challenge.
To begin with, access...
Giant cargo
needed a giant opening,
But the front of any plane
is blocked by the cockpit.
The solution?
A nose cone that swings up
to become a massive door.
It's called the visor.
I've seen this
open and close 20 times.
It is still an amazing
feat of engineering.
20 feet wide and weighing in
at over 6,500 pounds,
The visor swings up 65 degrees
to clear the cargo bay
And sit above the cockpit
during loading.
At the rear,
another colossal door,
23 feet long and 18 feet wide,
Creating an open-ended,
drive-on/drive-off cargo hold
The size of a bowling alley.
So, this is the back end
of the cargo bay,
And just to give you
an appreciation
For how big this is,
You could actually fit
58 cadillacs inside of there.
The c-5 was the only aircraft
that could deliver
Two 65-ton battle tanks
directly into a theater of war.
It could also transport
mobile bridges,
Armored personnel carriers,
troop trucks,
And just about anything
an armored brigade would need
On its deployment.
It was a game changer
For u.S. Military
long-distance operations.
The visor was
a creative solution
To one of the problems of
building a plane on this scale,
But it created another one...
How do you lift, rotate,
and then support a door
That weighs 6,500 pounds?
The answer...
Supersized hydraulics.
Before hydraulics,
planes were controlled
By wire cables,
pulleys, and levers
Operated by the pilots.
Hydraulic systems
use high pressure pumps
To make fluid do work,
And this allowed
aircraft engineers
To replace pulleys and cables
with hoses and pipework
That created
far more powerful controls,
And that allowed airplanes
to become much bigger...
...But at a cost.
The early petroleum fluids
That ran through the hydraulic
systems were highly flammable,
A death sentence
for warplanes under attack.
American airmen trapped on board
suffered the consequences.
Film narrator: Ignition of the
fuel-air mixture occurs at once.
The fuel being spilled
adjacent to the nacelle
Is then ignited
from this flash fire.
Chad: With pressure
to increase size and safety,
The engineers needed
to find an alternative.
Early hydraulic fluid
was highly flammable
And caused some
pretty nasty injuries
For crews that were shot down
in the Korean war.
But there was also
another problem.
At 30,000 feet with temperatures
down to minus 60 degrees,
The fluid started to freeze,
As you can see
with this engine oil
I just took out
of a commercial freezer.
It turned to
this toffee-like consistency,
And when it's like that,
It won't flow
through a high pressure pump.
Aircraft engineers
needed a solution,
And they found it being used
for oil exploration in alaska.
It's called
acetal aromatic fluid,
And this is a sample of it.
This has been in the freezer
just as long,
And you can see
it's still perfectly fluid,
And it's not flammable.
Engineers could now use
this hydraulic fluid
With high pressure pumps
and 260 actuators
To supersize a cargo plane
and build a c-5.
It was the game changer
they needed
To create a safer
high-flying plane,
And these are the key
to the system.
This is an actuator.
It's small
but incredibly powerful.
This one's rated for 12 tons,
Which means it could lift
about ten average-sized cars.
Now, the way it's made
is there's a piston rod
That goes inside of a cylinder.
The cylinder is filled
with hydraulic fluid.
Now, when I turn on a pump,
It's gonna pressurize that
hydraulic fluid in this hose
And add it to the side.
This pushes the piston forward
to move heavy components.
Reversing the pump switches
pressure to the other side,
And the piston retracts.
The c-5 has many actuators,
eight times more than the 747.
They work to operate
the huge cargo doors,
Wing flaps, and landing gears.
They do it
thousands of times a year,
So the wear and tear
on them is enormous,
And they have to be continually
checked and repaired.
Man: I've got a ramp arm light.
Chad, could you go check
that upper hinge for me
And see if that actuator
hinge retracted back there?
Chad: This actuating cylinder
controls the hydraulic system
That moves the nose cone.
Man: Doors coming closed.
Clear.
Chad: It's showing
signs of wear, and if it fails,
Over 6,500 pounds of nose cone
Could come crashing back down
onto the cockpit.
We have to replace the actuators
On both the front
and rear cargo doors.
The trouble is
they aren't made anymore.
Custom-building one from scratch
would cost up to $60,000,
But there is a place
Where the military
can pick them up a lot cheaper.
♪
This is the u.S.
Air force maintenance
And regeneration facility
in arizona.
Thousands of surplus aircraft
Are stored out here
in the desert,
Ready to be cannibalized
for parts
To keep the rest
of the fleet in the air.
Jennifer barnard:
You won't find a place
That has more
military aircraft stored.
2,600 acres, nearly 4,000
airplanes are stored here,
$35 billion worth of inventory.
Most of our aircraft
are reclaimed for parts
To keep those aircraft flying.
Chad: It's the final resting
place of legendary f-4 phantoms,
F-16 fighter falcons,
and f-111 bombers,
And the reason I'm here...
The original c-5s,
Some of the very first
off the production line in 1970.
These older models
were so well maintained
That their components
are still in working order,
Perfectly preserved
in the dry desert air.
Mechanics dan moran
and eric mollison
Are helping me find
a pristine actuator
For the c-5 we're upgrading.
Eric: Hold this in place
So that it doesn't pull
the whole assembly over.
Chad: Got it.
Eric: While I pop this out.
Chad: Okay, almost there,
two threads left.
There it goes.
[drilling]
Eric: And that's the top part.
We'll be pulling parts
off of these for decades.
Chad: Wow!
Eric: You know, we make money
for the air force out here.
Nothing out here goes to waste.
Chad: Yeah.
Because parts like these
aren't manufactured anymore,
Without this facility,
the military couldn't maintain
Its older aircraft,
like our c-5.
Eric: There we go.
There she is.
Chad: Good, good deal.
60,000 bucks
just like that, huh?
Eric: Yep.
This is how we drain them,
very scientific.
So, it's got quite
a bit of fluid in it.
And clean it up and ship it out.
Chad: Cool.
Man: This is ken.
Chad: Hey, ken.
With the hydraulic fluid
drained,
My actuator is cleaned,
tagged, and released to me
To take back to our c-5.
So, just take this,
and we're set?
Gina: All set.
Chad: Okay.
Thanks, gina, appreciate it.
Gina: You're very welcome.
Chad: All right, bye.
Gina: Bye.
♪
Chad: Back in georgia,
I get to make myself useful
by playing delivery boy.
All right,
One actuator delivered
and ready to install.
♪
This one is destined
for the cargo door.
Man: All right, chad. Go ahead
and tighten up the, the bolts.
The actuator is lined up.
♪
Chad: It's good. All right.
Man: Looks good, chad.
Chad: Okay. Job done,
actuator installed.
It took three days
plus a trip to arizona,
But the nose cone
and cargo bay doors
Are now fully operational.
Keeping 50-year-old planes
airborne is a lot of work.
The first c-5s rolled off
the production line in 1969.
By then,
the world's biggest aircraft
Was already becoming
its most expensive.
Rushing the untested plane
to its first war zone
More than doubled the cost.
Its first combat mission
was in 1972,
Where the u.S. Hoped
It would halt
the communist push in vietnam.
The c-5 could unload tanks
in just 27 minutes,
Keeping vulnerable time
on the ground to a minimum.
In 1973, as the war
in vietnam eased,
Syria and egypt attacked
america's ally, israel.
Once again, the u.S. Responded
by sending in the c-5s.
The fleet flew 145 missions
in just two weeks,
Loaded with emergency supplies
and military equipment.
By 1975, c-5s had played
a critical part
In the evacuation
of refugees from saigon,
As the vietnam war
finally ended.
Film narrator:
Under difficult conditions,
This proven versatile giant
can be counted on to perform.
Chad: In just five years,
the c-5 had proved
Its huge cargo capacity
was indispensable.
Engineering that capacity
was itself a minor miracle.
But it wasn't enough
just to build the ark;
Now it had to fly.
I want to find out
just how this thing
Actually made it into the air
and stayed there.
The secret to the c-5's strength
is hidden here,
Behind the protective covers
That line
the cargo hold's walls.
Man: Do all of them, one by one,
To check that
all of them are good.
We'll press on from there.
Chad: Cool.
We're inspecting
the small screws or fasteners
That hold the plane's
outer walls together.
There's millions of them.
♪
Man: You'll see the corrosion
on the pin.
Chad: Believe it or not,
these tiny holes are the reason
Why the cargo hold
can support such huge weight.
So, we take the nuts off
from this side
And then pop it through
with the rivet gun
And then replace them?
Man: Yes.
Chad: All right, well,
I guess we better get started.
The number of fasteners
in an aircraft
Relates directly
to its load-bearing capability,
And the c-5 has twice as many
as other large aircraft.
This row right here?
The load on each fastener
takes its toll,
And eventually
it will weaken and snap.
To prevent a devastating
midair failure,
Each one has to be
in perfect working order,
Which is where we come in.
There's over 1.6 million
fasteners on this c-5,
And we inspect
as many as possible.
In this case, we've got 40,000
we need to replace.
Only once
they've all been replaced
Will the c-5 be fit for duty.
What's this? Is this line
for all these guys?
Man: Yeah, go ahead.
Chad: We're six weeks
into the complete strip-down
Of this massive galaxy c-5
As it gets retrofitted
and transformed
Into a c-5m super galaxy.
As part of this
$13 billion upgrade,
The old c-5s have been given
four new f138 turbofan engines
With 20 percent
increased thrust,
Allowing for shorter,
heavier takeoffs.
Each engine weighs in
at five tons.
♪
As the c-5 got heavier,
It became harder to control
the massive stresses of flight.
The cockpit has been overhauled,
The old dials
and levers replaced
With a computer-controlled
avionics system.
The new software is tested
on the simulator
To make sure its bug-free when
it's loaded into the cockpit.
John thornbury: We have
our engines in place
And on and ready.
We have our gear down.
At 140 knots, I want you
to pull the stick back,
And we'll gently lift off.
Chad: Okay.
John: And not too violent.
Try not to use too much at once
to get it up.
All right.
[click]
All right, you heard that click.
I want you to throw
the landing gear.
Chad: This one?
John: Yep.
Robert herrmann:
This facility allows us
To test software changes
in a contained environment
Where we don't tie up
operational aircraft,
So it's extremely
beneficial there.
We're saving $3, $4, $5 million
Each time we go through
a software release.
Chad: This is the closest
I'll get to flying one of these,
So let's see how she handles.
Cruise altitude 20,000.
Uh-oh, hold on. Something moved.
I'm off target here.
John: Now it's climbing fast.
Chad: Whoa!
Wow!
Uh-oh, we're in the red zone.
John: Oh, yeah. We're going
real slow, and we're dropping.
Chad: Oh, man.
John: Now, we've
got to pick up speed.
Chad: Jeez.
[laughs]
Wow, look at that.
John: And there's England.
Chad: Oh, yeah.
As I level up,
The control yoke vibrates
to simulate a stall.
It really does
make it realistic.
John: Oh, yeah.
Chad: Especially when
this thing starts vibrating
And yelling at you and beeping.
My career as a c-5 pilot
is gonna be short-lived.
Even in the simulator,
it gets stressful.
John: Oh, yeah!
Chad: But it shows
the huge strain
This heavy aircraft
is under during flight.
Wow!
John: So find it,
and there you go.
Chad: Oh, man.
As attention turns
to the superstructure,
I want to reveal
the next innovation
That gets this monster plane
airborne and keeps it there.
Next up for inspection,
the c-5's mighty wings.
They span an incredible
222 feet and 8 inches
And weigh over 40,000 pounds!
This is a boeing 747.
Now look at the wings.
They're mounted low on
the fuselage and angled upwards.
This is typical
of any passenger aircraft.
Now compare that
to a c-5 cargo plane.
Here, the wings are mounted
high on the air frame.
That means the fuselage can be
designed lower to the ground.
This translates
to easier loading,
Which is crucial for the c-5.
Now look at the pitch
of the wings.
They're angled downwards,
And that design was key
to allow the wings
To take the huge weight
of a loaded cargo plane.
The downward pitch of the wings
Was the stroke of genius
That got the c-5 off the ground,
Because it allowed them to flex.
Man: This aircraft is capable
Of a tremendous amount
of airlift,
So when they actually
are in flight,
The wings lift up
to almost level
So that we can lift
so much weight.
Chad: Got you.
So that's deflection.
It's not mechanically moving.
It's just deflecting up.
Man: Not mechanical at all.
It is just deflection.
Chad: Deflection is the
natural movement of the wings
As they lift upwards
during flight.
All aircraft do this, but
the design of the c-5's wings
Enables it to flex
by an incredible 12 feet.
When the plane lands,
they droop down again.
Implementing this experimental
design pushed costs
From $40 to $60 million
per aircraft.
I can see why c-5 engineers
chose this design.
Rigid wings
would have simply snapped
Under the weight of the plane.
Instead, these were designed to
bend and flex without cracking.
It gives the plane its really
distinctive look, which I love.
And I got to say,
it was a really clever design.
The problem is
it didn't quite work.
In 1974, just four years after
they rolled out of the factory,
Huge cracks appeared
on some of the c-5's wings.
America's $60 million plane
was a flying death trap.
The fleet's days
looked numbered.
When lockheed estimated
another half billion dollars
To fix the cracked wings,
Many politicians wanted
to scrap the whole c-5 program.
In the end, their hand
was forced by the ussr.
Ronald reagan: Tonight
I want to explain to you
What this defense debate
is all about
And why I'm convinced
that the budget
Now before the congress
is necessary.
Chad: Believe it or not,
this isn't a c-5.
It's a russian airlifter,
and when it launched in 1982,
It was both bigger
and better than the c-5.
Nicknamed the condor,
The antonov 124 had the same
engineering innovations...
The raised nose,
the high-mounted wings...
But its engines
had 20 percent more thrust
Mounted on a larger wingspan,
and the condor could carry
44,000 pounds more
than the c-5 galaxy.
American superiority,
not to mention pride,
Was at stake.
Film narrator: To avoid
the horror of nuclear war,
The soviet union
or any potential adversary
Must believe
that the united states
Has the ability to retaliate
If they should launch
a first attack
On us or our allies.
Chad: President reagan
believed the c-5
Was the only answer
to the growing russian threat.
As part of a new defense budget,
He requested
$1.4 billion from congress
To upgrade the c-5 fleet.
Reagan got his money,
And the c-5 was saved
from history's scrap heap.
The existing fleet of
76 aircraft would get new wings,
And 50 brand-new planes
were ordered.
These upgraded planes
were renamed c-5bs.
Finally, almost 20 years
after the c-5 was launched,
The air force had a plane
it could trust,
But it had cost ten times
the original budget.
And constant maintenance
still remains essential.
William ball: We're doing
a very thorough, in-depth look
Of the inside and outside
of the wings,
And we're looking
for structural defects
Such as we found
back in the a-model wings.
We're searching inside and out
for any kind of abnormalities
Or any kind
of other structural issues
That could cause problems
in the future
So that we can get ahead
of that power curve now.
Chad: The wings are made up of
hundreds of reinforced panels.
Each one must be checked,
replaced if faulty,
And manually glued
back into place.
How long does this stuff
take to dry?
William: Typically half an hour.
Chad: So we got to get it on
pretty quick then, huh?
The panels are made of
the strongest aluminum alloys.
Wow, it's really light!
William: So, it's actually
two pieces of sheet metal
That are bonded
to a honeycomb core,
So it gives it strength
and rigidity,
But it's very light.
Chad: This is just the start
of a six-week process
To check and replace all of
the panels on 220 foot of wing.
When they're done, this plane
will be ready to deploy
To any hostile hotspot
in the world.
The c-5's cargo hold
let it carry huge loads.
Its vast wings
gave enormous lift.
The challenge is
once off the ground,
How can it stay airborne
For the thousands
of miles needed
To reach anywhere on the planet?
The first clue to this
next incredible innovation
Is right above the cockpit.
Man: It's literally
just right in here.
Right there.
Chad: Oh, yeah,
that's amazing!
It's a fuel inlet,
known as the receptacle.
This may not look like much,
But it allows a c-5 to fly
further than any other plane
By letting it refuel midair
from a second aircraft.
Midair refueling was first
attempted in the 1920s,
And while the principle
is still the same,
It's become
much more sophisticated.
A telescopic tube called a boom
Extends from the rear
of a tanker aircraft.
It's fitted with air foils,
which allows an operator
To control it
like a model airplane
And dock it
with the fuel inlet on the c-5,
Where it's held in place
with a locking mechanism.
Hundreds of pounds of fuel
Are then transferred
every second
From the tanker
and onto the c-5,
Where it's stored
inside its enormous wings.
Can you take me down below
to see it from the inside?
Man: Sure can. Let's do it.
All right, chad,
this is where the,
This is the interior side
Of where the boom actually
connects to the aircraft.
This is basically
the fuel manifold,
And once it connects up,
It's going to start
running down this fuel pipe
And then out to the wings.
Chad: So, this is
the main fuel line
That comes down
from the receptacle
That we saw inside the cockpit,
And this fills up 12 integral
tanks that are within the wings,
And it holds
over 50,000 gallons of fuel.
The refueling receptacle
is key to the whole process.
It locks onto the tanker's boom
To hold
the two aircraft together.
Without it, they can't refuel.
To check it, we're using
a special test unit
That mimics the action
of the refueling boom.
Man: It's going to kick back
a little bit.
Chad: So, we're going
to try and test
The contacts in the inside
To make sure
that we've got that connection,
And the pilot inside
is going to switch it on
So that when it engages,
we're ready to fuel it up.
Contacts ready.
Okay, here it goes.
It should lock on contact.
[thud]
Man: There you go! First try!
Chad: Oh! One and done, baby!
Man: All right,
then switch it to contact.
You're set.
Chad: All right, I'll see
if it was beginner's luck.
[thud]
Man: Bang!
Chad: Whoa!
Man: I know, you got it now!
Chad: So you can see this
actually, this metal trapdoor,
If you will,
goes down so that boom lift,
As it's dropping that nozzle
to come down here to refuel.
This receptacle is
in full operational order.
Another small piece of the c-5
refurb jigsaw makes the grade.
Carrying less fuel
means the c-5 can take off
Carrying more cargo,
And then once airborne, top up.
With full tanks, the c-5
can fly over 5,000 miles,
And with a midair refuel,
It can reach anywhere
on the planet.
It's a classic piece
of engineering,
Simple in concept,
But executing it
midair at 300 miles an hour
Is a very different story.
Few people outside
the crews involved
Actually get to experience
a midair refueling maneuver,
So for me
to witness one firsthand
Is truly a once-in-a-lifetime
experience.
♪
I'm boarding a refueling tanker,
And we have a rendezvous
with a c-5 over the atlantic.
Hey.
Man: Welcome aboard.
Chad: Thank you.
Captain milan and his crew
will be at 26,000 feet.
♪
I'm keeping my eyes peeled
for a 450-ton airlifter.
And there it is, a mile away,
A giant in the sky,
On a training mission
over the sea
But running on empty.
The c-5 crew turns off autopilot
and close the gap.
This is the most dangerous part
of the operation.
As the c-5 approaches,
the crew drops the boom.
It's now just 20 feet behind us.
Wow!
Oh, my gosh!
The c-5 pilot
must hold this position
Or risk being caught in the huge
jet wash from our plane.
Using the boom's
remote-controlled air fins,
The team guide it towards
the c-5's fuel receptacle.
Wow!
[radio chatter]
That is an unbelievable view.
The receptor locks firm.
We're connected.
Wow!
I couldn't even do this
Between two cars
driving ten miles an hour
And try to hand a coke
to somebody out the window,
Let alone two massive planes
26,000 feet up
Going 300 miles an hour.
35,000 pounds of fuel
pumping into the c-5,
Meaning our plane gets lighter
and the c-5 gets heavier.
Both pilots have to compensate
for this weight change,
Or the two planes
will be pulled apart.
Man: So, they're constantly
gaining that weight,
So they're constantly needing
to just, you know,
Push up the power
just a little bit
To try to keep that distance
that they have.
Chad: Yeah.
If that wasn't hard enough,
Both planes have to perform
a synchronized turn
To enter a holding pattern
while the fuel transfers.
Man: All right, so it gets
a little more challenging
For the pilot here in the turn.
Chad: So, we're doing
a turn right now?
Man: Yeah, we're
in a right-hand turn.
Chad: A midair refueling turn.
Now you guys
are just showing off.
Man: Yeah, exactly.
Chad:
The two planes pull apart,
And the c-5 is good to go
for another 5,000 miles.
But getting to the destination
is only half the story.
The c-5 has to deliver
its payload often in a war zone.
How do you deliver cargo
in a combat zone?
A c-5 coming in for a landing
is one very big target.
The answer was
not to land at all,
Which is why the c-5's
huge rear doors
Can be opened in flight.
Imagine you're driving your car
At 60 miles an hour
down the freeway
And you open up your rear trunk.
You'd be fighting
to keep control.
Now imagine that you're flying
an almost 300-ton aircraft
At nearly 200 miles an hour
And you open up
a giant rear cargo door.
It messes up the aerodynamics
and creates violent turbulence,
Destabilizing
the tail of the plane.
That could shake
the aircraft to pieces,
But the c-5 designers
had an ingenious solution.
On most aircraft,
the tailplane looks like this,
With low horizontal fins.
The c-5 does things differently.
It has its rear fins
mounted right at the top
In an arrangement
called a t-tail.
By placing the horizontal
stabilizers up high like this,
They were kept
out of the air turbulence
That was caused by opening
the cargo doors while in flight,
And that meant that the c-5
could deliver its payload
Without ever having
to touch down.
In 1973, the c-5 broke records
with the heaviest airdrop ever...
A deactivated
minuteman nuclear missile
Weighing in at 73,000 pounds.
It was so heavy,
The plane's tail rose by 30 feet
as the bomb fell.
This test proved that
the c-5 could be relied upon
As a heavy-duty nuclear bomber.
Film narrator:
At an altitude of 20,000 feet
And a speed of 172 knots,
This flight
set a new world's record
For a single-load airdrop
by nearly 5,000 pounds.
Chad: The drop was only possible
because of this 68-foot t-tail.
It's as big as a fighter jet.
It gives the plane enormous lift
And increased stability
during flight.
But like the wings, the t-tail
is subject to massive strains,
And by 2009,
after 40 years of service,
Cracks started to appear.
I'm joining the team
Charged with overhauling
the tail on our c-5.
Where were they finding
the, the stress cracks?
Man: The stress cracks
were actually found
In these three holes,
the very bottom three holes
At the bottom of that.
Chad: Wow.
This is an area of high stress,
and even with multiple rivets,
The airframe was slowly
being pulled apart.
Left untreated, it could cause
catastrophic failure.
♪
Okay, I'm climbing up into
the back section of the plane
Known as the hayloft,
And this is right
where the vertical part
Of the tail connects to,
And there's
a critical component here
Known as the batman fitting,
And it has to be replaced
on all the c-5s
Because of fatigue cracks.
The batman fitting reinforces
The vulnerable bottom section
of the tail
Where it connects
to the fuselage,
Preventing it from breaking off.
Some say it looks a bit
like batman's mask,
Hence the nickname.
I'm ready to get my hands dirty.
Man: All right, let's go to it.
Chad: The c-5
is in constant battle
With its own size and power.
To keep the giants in service,
These new joints
have now been remade
From stronger and thicker
aluminum alloy.
Man: They beefed up
the whole section in here.
All this is beefed up in here.
Chad: Every c-5 has a slightly
different interior layout,
So these batman joints
are custom-fitted.
Engineers must map out
every single rivet hole.
It's like marking out where
to put a shelf up at home,
Only with 3,000 holes.
So, we're using these temporary
connectors known as clecos,
And we put them through
the existing hole pattern
On the backside
so that when we drill through,
We're gonna know
exactly how to drill
Through the batman fitting,
And it's going to be
guaranteed to fit.
[drill whirring]
Wow, my first hole
in a batman fitting.
[drill whirring]
4 down, 2,996 to go.
[drill whirring]
Once the new batman fittings
have been riveted inside,
The rivet holes outside
must be reinforced
To protect them
from the elements.
Man: All right, here we go.
This is, this is where we work.
Chad: Okay.
So this whole yellow piece
is a new piece?
Man: It is, yes, sir.
Chad: And it's stronger?
Man: It is stronger.
It's steel.
It just adds, it just beefs up
the outside of the aircraft.
Chad: Got it.
[drill whirring]
Cool.
Man: Great job. You're hired.
Chad: So, it may seem
like a small part,
But this is absolutely critical
Because the most stress and
highest loads occur right here,
So we got to make sure
we get it right.
It's a redesign and a rebuild,
Yet another cost,
But essential to keep
the c-5 safe in the skies
For thousands
of flights to come.
♪
Despite its problems,
The c-5's ability to deploy
anywhere in the world
Meant they quickly
became invaluable
To the u.S. Military.
In 1990, they faced
their greatest challenge
In 30 years of service...
Operation desert storm,
The biggest military airlift
in history.
C-5s worked 26-hour shifts
around the clock
To deliver half a million
american troops, 1,300 tanks,
And 15 field hospitals
to saudi arabia.
The military airlift command
Moved the equivalent
of oklahoma city...
All of its people, vehicles,
even household goods,
Halfway around the world.
It took six months,
And often it meant
landing in places
Where a smooth runway
wasn't an option.
From the beginning, the c-5's
innovative landing gear
Could land in deserts,
dirt strips, or even fields.
Six months
into this c-5 overhaul,
And I finally get my chance
to uncover how it works.
Finding a way to land
a fully loaded c-5 on rough dirt
Presented
a real engineering challenge.
How do you absorb the impact
of a 300-ton aircraft
Touching down on a rutted field
without damaging the cargo
Or the plane or the crew?
Lockheed was very proud
of the solution.
Film narrator: Can a 380-ton
plane have a light footprint?
American ingenuity said,
"sure, it can"
And produced a 28-wheel gear
With tires that can
be deflated in flight
For softer landings
on bare soil.
♪
Chad: The c-5 galaxy has a very
unique landing gear system.
It's this incredible feat
of engineering
That allows this monster
aircraft to take off and land
Just about anywhere
in the world.
That's right. 28 wheels,
more than any other aircraft.
They're spread across
five clusters called trucks,
One under each corner
and one under the nose.
Giant shock struts absorb
the impact of landing
And braking on rough ground.
The landing gear can pivot
to allow tight turning circles
On small airstrips.
Powerful hydraulics
adjust each landing gear
To level the plane.
After takeoff, they rotate
90 degrees and store flat
Without taking up any space
inside the cargo bay.
It's an incredibly
complicated system
Dependent on hundreds of small
moving parts working in unison.
Once again, the size
and complexity of the c-5
Became its achilles' heel.
The wings had been upgraded,
the tail strengthened,
Allowing the cargo limits
to be increased,
But the all-important wheel
bearings had not been upgraded,
And eventually
they, too, began to fail.
[whirring]
The landing gears on some c-5s
started to jam.
Crews had to force
the wheels down manually
To prevent a crash landing.
It all came down
to aircraft engineer harry jones
To find out why.
He used a listening device
to locate the problem
Amongst the hundreds
of tiny parts.
Harry jones: We had a failure,
A bearing failure ultimately,
But we didn't know
what it was initially,
So we developed
a procedure to listen.
We had a mechanical stethoscope
That we listened
to the gearboxes with.
Chad: So, what were
you listening for
When you actually
had the gear going?
Harry: When you would listen
to one that was bad,
You could hear grinding
and strange sounds
Coming from within the case.
You had to almost hear it
to define it.
Chad: So, was it both of them
that were going bad?
Harry solved the problem
And became
a c-5 aviation legend.
Is that how you became known
as the aircraft whisperer?
Harry: I was dubbed that
by our wing commander.
Chad: But landing
on rough ground
Wasn't the c-5's only trick.
Once it touches down,
The c-5 is the only plane
in the world that can limbo.
It's the final two weeks
Of our c-5 galaxy's
overhaul and upgrade.
When completed, this will be
a totally new class of airplane.
With its new hydraulics,
new wing panels,
A re-engineered tail,
and even a new paint job,
The final task is
to check the shock absorbers
That support
each massive touchdown.
As well as softening
the impact of landing,
It's the shock struts
that allow the c-5
To do something
no other plane can do...
Kneel down to just
four inches off the ground,
Making it easier and faster
To load cargo
in and out of the hold.
This was a game changer
for a military transporter
And the design feature
that won lockheed the contract.
But like everything else
on the c-5,
These shock absorbers
need a lot of maintenance.
Each one must be disassembled
as part of the overhaul.
♪
Hi, mike. Ready?
Mike: All right, chad.
When you're ready,
We're going to
bring the gear up.
I'm going to tell you
when to stop.
I got to check the rollers
and the track, all right?
Chad: So, handle closed,
90 degrees.
Click up.
Open slow.
As the plane brakes,
the inner piston moves up
And the shock struts absorb up
to a million pounds of pressure.
Special rings
move with the pistons
To keep the hydraulic fluid
sealed inside.
If these get damaged,
the fluid leaks out.
Without it,
the landing gear will fail
And the plane
will have a hard landing.
We're going to get dirty
today, aren't we?
David mera:
We're going to try to.
It's not fun unless you don't.
Chad: Yeah, okay.
Man, I feel like a dentist now
with these type of tools.
David checks the inner rings
That seal hydraulic fluid
within the cylinder.
David: You have to
kind of run your hand over it,
Make sure
there's no deformities,
Things like that.
Get kind of
eyeball height with it.
Look down it.
Make sure you don't have
anything that's pitted,
Low spots.
A lot of things happen when it
gets used out in the field.
Chad: Oh, man,
this is no joke.
My turn to check these seals for
even the tiniest imperfections.
Is that, uh, anything?
David: Yeah.
Chad: So, like nicks like this?
David: That is heavily worn
and out of limits.
Chad: The inner rings
are damaged and need replacing
Before our c-5
will be cleared to fly.
So, a part like that,
You got to get a new part then
at that point?
David: Yes.
♪
Chad: We retrofitted
a piston assembly.
David: Yeah,
it's quite a process.
Chad: Man!
Before it's sent
on its first mission,
It must pass a series
of final checks...
The cargo bay doors, the wings,
The reinforced tail,
and the wheels.
It passes.
Our c-5 is ready
to take to the skies.
After 9 months,
80,000 man-hours,
And $20 million,
This c-5b can be relaunched
And renamed
as a c-5m super galaxy.
Nick.
Nick: Hey, how's it going?
Chad: Good. Chris,
thanks for having me on board.
Nick: So, this is
our new flight deck.
We've got beautiful avionics
up here for our m model.
As you can see,
it's very modern.
It's a very modern airplane.
Now, you know this airplane
was built in 1969,
That we're flying today,
but we've modernized it greatly.
Chad: Three mobile generators
need to be transported
To an army base 200 miles north.
This is a big machine.
Man: Yes, it is.
Chad: Each one weighs 20 tons.
The c-5 swallows them all
with ease.
So, this is gross
vehicle weight... 38,690 pounds?
Man: Yep, 38,690 pounds.
Chad: Wow.
Man: That's huge.
Chad: Geez.
Man: It's probably one of the
largest pieces of rolling stock
We've dealt with in a while.
Chad: So, with 120,000 pounds
Of oversized rolling stock
ready to go,
You can see why the c-5s
Are critical
to the u.S. Air force.
As impressive as that is,
It's still only a third of
the weight this c-5 can carry.
With its huge range
and ability to refuel midair,
This plane can stay
airborne indefinitely.
The only limit
is fatigue for the crew,
So the c-5 is equipped
with sleeping quarters
To allow the them
to work in shifts.
Nick: It's very comfortable.
Chad: Air force first class.
Nick: Yeah, exactly.
Chad: I've helped
transform this c-5...
Stripping it back,
taking it apart,
And rebuilding it.
Now it's time for me
to say goodbye
And let this plane
take to the skies.
The c-5's impressive scale is
matched only by its price tag...
$260 million to build it
and millions more
In its many repairs
and upgrades.
But through all that, it's been
in almost constant use,
Defying gravity and economics
for 50 years
And ready for another
five decades of service,
A testament to the tenacity
of engineering genius
And the value of sheer size.
♪